GROVE CITY, Pa. – In early October, Dr. Kevin Seybold, professor of psychology at Grove City College, presented a paper at an international conference on human beings held in Gorizia, Italy.

SophiaEuropa, a pilot project supported by the Metanexus Institute and the John Templeton Foundation – two organizations with interests in religion and science – hosted the international conference entitled “Human Beings: Philosophical, Theological and Scientific Perspectives.” Additionally, the Xavier Tilliette International Institute supported the conference.

The conference’s goal was to invite significant figures in philosophy, theology and science present their views on the nature of human beings.

Seybold was one of only a handful of Americans to present. His paper was titled “Biological and Psychological Perspectives on Human Spirituality.”

Seybold’s paper discussed the seemingly universal tendency of humans to worship, and the recent findings from psychology, cognitive science and neuroscience supporting the view of spirituality, according to Seybold, “as an innate ability that emerges out of the brain; an embodied capacity which enables us to have personal relatedness.

“My paper concerned the biological and psychological perspectives of human spirituality,” he continued. “What define us as creatures made by God are our relationships, and God calls us to relationship with him.” He called it “the lure of the divine.”

Seybold graduated from Greenville College in Illinois. He earned his master’s degree in experimental psychology from Marquette University and his Ph.D. in physiological psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.